CULTIVATE: THE ALLOTMENT

Our mission is for our game CULTIVATE: BEFORE TIME to be real world relevant, using real permaculture principles. What better way to learn about what works and what doesn’t – and how exhausting and satisfying growing things is! – than by actually doing it?

As we go along, we will be posting about our allotment journey. The photo above shows our little patch of land. As you can see, it is a sloping plot. It is 2.8m by 26m, with neighbouring plots either side. Within this space we will grow many things – but there is much to do before growing can begin.

The ground is lumpy and covered in tufty grass – and therefore often slippery in our delightful wet English weather. Our first goal, therefore, is to create a mulch path down one side so that we can cultivate our allotment without injury!

We are going to try out a no-dig method: this involves covering the grass with cardboard to kill it in places. This allows for the soil and its ecosystem of bacteria, worms and bugs to be kept intact, and the grass’s nutrients are reabsorbed by the earth rather than removed. We’ll keep you updated on how it goes!